Table 3.

Comparison of RANKL, OPG, NF-κB, and RANKL/OPG between the groups (% area, F, *: Welch-ANOVA test statistic; chi square, x: Kruskal Wallis test statistic; RANKL: receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand; OPG: osteoprotegerin; NF-κB: nuclear factor kappa B; SD: standard deviation,a:significant difference from the healthy group, b:significant difference from the periodontitis group, c:significant difference from the prophylaxis group )

	Healthy Group	Periodontitis Group	Prophylaxis Group	Therapeutic Group	F, χ2	p
RANKL Median	1.48ᵇ	11.34	4.36	1.64ᵇ	24.657x	less than 0.001
(min; max)	(0.82; 2.55)	(7.36; 14.59)	(1.96; 7.11)	(1.39; 3.40)
OPG Median	2.32	0.93	5.24ᵇ	6.39ª,ᵇ	23.270x	less than 0.001
(min; max)	(1.64; 3.40)	(0.56; 3.92)	(3.44; 8.24)	(3.11; 13.86)
RANKL/OPG Mean ± SD	0.66 ± 0.31ᵇ	12.43 ± 6.44	0.86 ± 0.31ᵇ	0.38 ± 0.24ᵇ,c	12.353*	less than 0.001
NF-Κb Median	1.59ᵇ	6.08	3.30ᵇ	3.32ᵇ	23.806x	less than 0.001
(min; max)	(1.16; 2.11)	(3.87; 8.72)	(2.46; 4.02)	(2.89; 4.91)